


Spring Rains, 1982

by sostrata



Series: The Hole in the Ground [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby Harry, Godfather Sirius Black, Harry Potter was Raised by Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, M/M, Post-First War with Voldemort, Raising Harry, Spring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-26 20:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13865715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sostrata/pseuds/sostrata
Summary: After moving into their new home, Sirius has a worry.





	Spring Rains, 1982

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Hole in the Ground series. You can read the series description to get a complete image of their house.
> 
> I wrote this for the Dog Days of Summer Prompt 18: rain, but then decided that I wanted to have this happen a little earlier in their timeline, so it's spring rather than summer of 1982. I couldn't bear the thought of little Harry not having a real home until all the way in to the next summer after That Hallowe'en. I'm feeling guilty enough as it is for making it spring!

The rain was pouring so hard that Sirius was certain he could hear it even from inside their underground home. He thought of floods, he thought of mudslides, he thought of the rain of 1741 that had been so great that it had washed away a goblin army and had buried Urfric the Unhappy so that they could see nothing but the tips of his ears...

"What if we don't survive?" he asked.

Down on the floor across the room, Remus had been sitting on a blanket with both Harry and the largest picture book ever in his lap, quietly reading a bedtime story. He looked up in startlement. "What?"

"The rain. It can't wash us away, can it?"

"No," said Remus slowly as he turned a page. "I don't think so." He gave Sirius a Look. "There you go, you've got _me_ thinking about it."

"I try," said Sirius modestly. He decided to leave Remus alone and went back to staring up at the ceiling.

The house wasn't much; at least not yet. It had just five rooms: the main room, the kitchen, two bedrooms, and another room they were still working out what to do with. The previous occupants, whoever they had been, had left nothing behind except two sagging chairs in the kitchen. The ceiling and walls were only packed earth, albeit with a considerable amount of charms on them so that they wouldn't crumble. The floor was earthen as well- that would need tending to immediately. Neither of them wanted Harry growing up surrounded by dirt. They would need more furniture, of course. Besides the chairs, they had just a cot for Harry, a bed for themselves, and the old couch that Sirius was moping- no, _sitting_ \- on. 

No, it wasn't much... but at least they had something permanent at last, and it should be safe from prying eyes. They just needed to make some homey touches...that place over there would make an excellent area for a mantelpiece...and they absolutely needed to get cooking ware for the kitchen...

His line of thought trailed off as he looked over at his family and curiously studied the front of their book. Remus had got it from wherever one got cheap Muggle things, and he couldn't make out what exactly was supposed to be on the cover. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

"A book," said Remus with more irritability than usual. He must still be thinking about the possible mudslide. Sirius grinned and joined them. Harry, who was on the verge of nodding off, looked up at him with a sleepy but happy smile on his tiny face. 

The book was quite colourful, but it was a Muggle one, and Sirius wasn't sure what he was to make of all those pictures that weren't moving.

"It's a book about flowers," Remus relented as Sirius draped an arm around him. "Rather creatively drawn, I grant you." This was true. One flower had perhaps a dozen colours to it. And a face. "Children's books can be difficult to fathom," Remus said with a sigh.

"So I see. You're a braver man than I."

"Shut it," muttered Remus with a small grin. "Do you want to put Harry to bed?"

Sirius saw that Harry was struggling to keep his eyes open, so he gently lifted him and carried him into the baby room, which they were still working on but which at least had the cot. He carefully laid Harry in it, and then just stood gazing down for a moment, a soft smile on his face. Finally, he went back out to Remus.

He was on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Sirius flopped down next to him, resting his head on Remus's shoulder.

"You know," he said, feeling not at all guilty, "I'm fairly sure the ceiling won't cave in."

Remus turned his head, and Sirius felt the smile on his hair. "I suppose not. It must have all sorts of charms on it."

"Speaking of charms, do you want to charm it like the Hogwarts dining hall ceiling?"

Remus snorted. "Are you joking? Certainly not today."

"Hmm. Well, I was thinking about doing that in Harry's room, really. It needs brightening up, considering there's no windows."

"I can't argue with that." Remus cast another worried look above. "Perhaps not in quite that way, however. I don't know that we want to disturb the ceiling's charms."

Sirius laughed. "That would probably be best."

They sat there quietly for a little. Sirius was quite content to just be there with Remus, right then, in their new home, with Harry slumbering in the next room. However, it did still gnaw on him to know that there was rain outside but to not have any sense of it at all. It was going to take some adjustment, living underground.

"It's not too bad, though, is it, the house?" Remus asked rather tentatively.

"No, it's fine." He found Remus's hand and squeezed it. "It's like, I don't know, our secret hideaway. Like the pirates who used to hide out in caves on the coast. Or," he offered hesitantly, "like us in the Shrieking Shack."

Remus squeezed his hand back. Since the events of That Hallowe'en and their resolution, Sirius hadn't been keen on talking about anything from Before. He didn't want to think much about why that was. Now, though, that they had finally stopped in their frantic rushing about to get the proper people in Azkaban and to above all get Harry situated, now that he could _breathe_...

"I thought," Remus said, "I thought, when I saw it, it had potential." He gestured with his free hand. "There could be a play area for Harry over there, and over there we could- well, if we live here long enough- we could have our Christmas tree..."

"Excellent," agreed Sirius, getting excited by the thought. "And the Quidditch set would be over there..."

"Excuse me, a Quidditch set?"

"For Harry, of course."

"Oh of course," said Remus with some scepticism. "Isn't he a little young?"

"You're never too young for Quidditch. And over there..."

They spent the rest of the evening in animated discussion about their plans for the future, having entirely forgotten all about the rain.

**Author's Note:**

> A big thanks to everyone who has been supporting the other fics in this series <3.


End file.
